12+ I joined Twitter in August 2011. My early tweets read like short text messages between friends. But then, tweets were only 140 characters long, and I had few followers—one was my mother! Twitter is now X. I can post 280 characters (premium users can publish 25,000-character posts!) and have many more followers. I've enjoyed tweeting, but it's time to say Goodbye Twitter.
There are three reasons I'm joining the Twitter "X-odus":
- I'm sick of getting Likes and Follows from busty blonde bots with zero posts and followers.
- I'm also sick of seeing ads in my feed espousing right-wing nut job views on nationalism, multiculturalism and immigration.
- And I'm heartily sick of the platform's owner's lurch to far-right neo-fascism in America and across the globe.
I could have carried on swallowing bile over the first two, but I gagged on the neo-fascist third.
Conflicted Emotions
Despite committing to leave Twitter, I am conflicted because it has been my go-to social media platform for engaging with people on important issues, like a fairer world and Australia's Voice to Parliament Referendum, and for sharing my love of being a dad and dog owner, and a keen supporter of the Sydney Swans AFL team.
It's also been the main platform for promoting my writing and storytelling podcast, Tall And True Short Reads, and interacting with other writers.
And I've made many friends on Twitter, some of whom I'll only ever know over the internet, but others I've met in person. These friendships would never have happened without tweets and posts.
But the "global town square" has become an unpleasant, shouty place, more reminiscent of the Nazi Party Rallies of the 1930s, than somewhere to share positive ideas and experiences.
Twitter Highlights
When I look back at my time on Twitter, I'll remember the conversations I've had, the friends I've made, the trolls and bots I've blocked, and three highlights:
Anthony Horowitz
My son loved reading books as a young kid but became a reluctant teen reader and non-reader. However, the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz captured his imagination at 13 and had me running to the library for more books.
I shared my delight on Twitter and was doubly delighted when Horowitz responded!
Malcolm Turnbull
Australia's 29th Prime Minister and my former Federal MP, Malcolm Turnbull, was ousted as leader by his conservative Liberal Party in 2018. It was a tipping point for me, and I decided to support our local independent candidate, Dr Kerryn Phelps, at the pre-poll and polling day booths.
Phelps's campaign team created a Turnbull-sized corflute, and I tweeted that I no longer wondered, "Where's Malcolm?" but was "hoping for a strong independent win" at the Saturday poll day.
Phelps liked the tweet. As did Turnbull, briefly, until the media noticed and publicised he had liked a tweet that undermined the Liberal Party. Fortunately, Phelps's campaign team took a screenshot before Turnbull removed his like!
#30Words30Days - 30-Word Stories
From April 2023 to November 2024, I participated in five #30Words30Days flash fiction writing challenges. The organisers, Sumitra and Danielle Baldock (@WritingDani on Twitter-X) in 2023 and Danielle in 2024, posted daily prompts for us to write and share our 30-word stories on Twitter.
I thoroughly enjoyed the challenges, which I used as creative kick-starts for my writing day. The initial April 2023 #30Words30Days also inspired me to publish an anthology of my microfiction, Tall And True Microfiction, in November 2023.
As much fun as I had writing the stories, interacting with Sumitra, Danielle, and our fellow #30Words30Days writers on Twitter was also positive and affirming.
I feel the same about my other regular writing challenges, the Australian Writers' Centre's Furious Fiction and the Not Quite Write Podcast's Not Quite Write Prize, where I enjoy sharing status updates and my hopes for the submitted story with other writers.
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Goodbye Twitter-X
When I say Goodbye Twitter at the end of February 2025, I won't miss the blonde bots, the right-wing nut jobs and trolls, or the world's richest man who seems to believe humanity's future lies in fascism and Mars.
But I will miss my quiet corner of Twitter, where I shared posts with other writers, game results with Wordle players, and thoughts with like-minded people who feel the world should be a better place, not just for the uber-rich and powerful.
Upon reflection, my 2011 tweets look naive. But Twitter was different then, and so was the world. Instead of leaving Twitter, I'm really saying Goodbye X because I would never have signed up for this "social media" platform.
Hopefully, you'll find me in another "town square" (@tallandtrue.bsky.social) where the sky is bluer … for now!
© 2025 Robert Fairhead
N.B. I will stop sharing and posting on Twitter-X after 28 February 2025, and I'll deactivate my tallandtrue account after three months.
P.S. You might like to read the first piece of twiction-microfiction I wrote in 2017 to celebrate the introduction of 280-character tweets, We Need to Talk.
Robert shares his writing on Tall And True and blogs on his eponymous website, RobertFairhead.com. He also writes and narrates episodes for the Tall And True Short Reads storytelling podcast, which features his short stories, blog posts, and other writing.
Robert's book reviews and other writing have appeared in print and online media. He has published three short story collections — Both Sides of the Story (2020), Twelve Furious Months (2021) and Twelve More Furious Months (2022) —, a microfiction anthology, Tall And True Microfiction (2023), and a collection of speculative fiction, One Day in the Life of Alex's AI and Other Speculative Fiction (2024).
In addition to writing, Robert's favourite pastimes include reading, watching the Sydney Swans Aussie Rules football team with his son, and walking his dog.
He has also enjoyed a one-night stand ... as a stand-up comic.
